


Want Can Wait

by victoriousscarf



Series: Stars and Cinders [2]
Category: DCU, Star Wars - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 12:10:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6803575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/victoriousscarf/pseuds/victoriousscarf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The boy wasn't anything special. He was supposed to be a job, taken and dropped off and never thought of again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Want Can Wait

**Author's Note:**

> Someone on tumblr was like what about that time Slade kidnapped Dick the first time? And I was like oh it's probably really boring it's--actually. I'm writing that. Right now. As of this moment.

“Any Jedi will do,” the bald man had said, already clearly paying more attention to the datapad in front of him than Slade.

“What do you want them for?” Slade asked, arms crossed over his chest and trying not to feel annoyed. It was just business, he reminded himself and would have winced if he had been alone. _It was just business_ felt like an echo from another lifetime.

He would work with this man because his master had requested it.

“Am I paying you to ask questions?”

“When do you need them?” Slade asked.

“As soon as you can manage it,” and Slade bit the side of his cheek until he tasted blood, let the rage and annoyance weave through him and settle into calm purpose.

“Alright.”

-0-

The thing was it was hardly his only contract. No matter what had changed in his life, he refused to let go of some of his ways. There was a code of _honor_ and he had spent his entire life as a mercenary. Even with that he had lost—even with what he had _gained—_ that was too ingrained into his very being for him to give it up.

So when he heard two Jedi had arrived on the planet before he could unload all his cargo and assassinate the prime minister of the planet, he was understandably annoyed. He had a job to do of course, but he had planned on finding a Jedi in his own time, one alone and stupid enough to fall into his trap.

It had been a few generations and the universe had changed in the last few hundred years but his people still whispered the name _Revan_ like maybe the general had been a god. Mandolorians would always kill their gods but in the meantime they were taught to be wary, or at the very least respectful of the Jedi's power.

Even with his new understanding of how weak Jedi were, his plans had not involved taking on a team of Jedi.

But then they separated and the youth walked right into his lap and Slade would never not take advantage of the opportunities life had given him.

-0-

The boy was smart, Slade would give him that. He moved like he knew what he was doing, and carried two blades. He was also beautiful in a way that usually wouldn't give Slade pause. He had killed too many beautiful people for it to phase him.

But there was something about the set of his mouth, and the way he tilted his chin back, even when it became obvious that Slade could wipe the floor with him without breaking a sweat. It made Slade want to get into his head and break it apart piece by piece on the way out just to see what would happen.

He dumped the young Jedi in the back of his ship and was halfway to the next system when he realized the boy wasn't even a full Jedi yet. He wondered if that made him ineligible for whatever Luthor wanted a Jedi for and doubted it.

-0-

When the boy woke up, he seemed to be aware instantly of how much danger he was in. He reached out, frantically seeking his lightsabers and then scrambled backward until he hit the wall, bracing himself there and looking around with wide eyes.

“Did you sleep well?” Slade asked, amused despite himself.

“There's just something to be said for being knocked out cold,” the boy replied and then closed his eyes, shoulders tight.

“I don't usually hear it called restful,” Slade said and the boy stared at him.

He had very blue eyes.

Slade wondered if he was reminding him of Grant and dismissed that out of hand.

But he also decided not to give the boy to Luthor.

-0-

Slade liked droids. He could program them to do whatever he wanted, and he never had to worry about them trying to wrest power from him. Sometimes they might question his orders, but that was simple enough to fix.

For the first week the only thing the boy saw were droids and Slade watched him through the cameras. At first he tried to meditate, hands gently resting on his knees. But they started to shake and by the third day the boy was pacing back and forth, counting his steps and then trying to meditate again. He went through all the Jedi forms he seemed to know, eyes closed the whole time. He would sometimes twine his fingers together hard enough his hands went white.

Solitary seemed to be driving him insane and Slade was fascinated.

Slade left him there a few times, because he did have contracts to fill and the Force inhibitor on the boy was doing it's job. When he came back from depositing another Jedi into Luthor's lap the boy was standing on his hands, perfectly balanced in the small cell Slade had left him in, and Slade had to ask himself why the boy was still there.

He was interesting, yes, but also a distraction, and if he had no purpose there was no point in keeping him around.

So Slade entered the cell and watched the boy tumble out of his hand stand, somehow still managing to catch himself gracefully.

“Why am I here?” he asked instantly.

Slade reached a hand out and watched the boy tense, straining to hold still. At first Slade thought he was going to try and lean back, but then the boy twitched and Slade realized he was trying not to lean forward. “Because you are,” he said.

“You brought me here,” the boy said. “There must be a reason for that.”

“I decided my first reason wasn't a good one,” Slade said and those blue eyes stared at him in silent shock.

“What's the second reason then?” he finally asked.

“We'll have to see.”

-0-

“Do you honestly believe in your order?” Slade asked, and Dick was trying to ignore him, working through a kata Slade thought he might vaguely recognize.

“Of course I do,” Dick said, almost dropping out of the form.

“Really?” Slade asked, resting his hand on the small of Dick's back just to see what would happen and he shuddered. “You're wasted by their notions of serenity. You might as well lobotomize yourself.”

“I am a Jedi,” the boy said.

“Not yet,” and Slade wanted to nuzzle into his hair, just to see what would happen.

He didn't and the boy tensed and froze at his touch. Slade was starting to suspect it was about control.

“I think you misunderstand the dark side,” Slade remarked and the boy finally laughed, short and bitter and harsh.

-0-

Slade wasn't a master at Force illusions by any means, but he had pushed himself to learn the skill, despite his master's scoffing because it seemed too useful to look like someone else to pass it up.

He was disappointed by the fact that moments after Dick's eyes lit up to see his master walk through the door, he realized it was an illusion. “How dare,” he started and realized he had no power.

But Slade couldn't shake the curiosity about what the boy would be like around someone he trusted. He froze when Slade touched him, he shied away when he thought he could, and looked away pointedly when he couldn't.

“You've never hurt me,” he said one day, like he was surprised.

“Is that all you think the dark side is?” Slade asked. “Pain.”

Dick's eyes flickered to him and Slade started trying to catch him unawares with the Force illusion. He would paint Bruce Wayne's features over his own when Dick was asleep, and the first time Dick had reached out, still half asleep and curled into him with a tiny whimper before he realized it was wrong.

“Why am I here?” Dick asked again, a few days later, his back to the wall and his head in his knees.

“I want you to join me.”

“No,” Dick said, not even a consideration and Slade wasn't sure if he was amused or annoyed.

“Perhaps you aren't ready for that yet,” he said and knelt down in front of Dick, grabbing his chin and forcing his head back. “One day though—when you realize how corrupt the Jedi are, how foolish, and how much more you deserve, I'll be waiting.”

“Never,” Dick said, with all the conviction he could manage.

Slade left him there, laying the last clues for Bruce Wayne to find his wayward padawan, content in the seeds he had planted. The last few weeks had been odd for him, staying in one place and prodding a singular human being for so long.

But now he had other work to do.

Dick Grayson could wait, because he was still too young, too full of hope and hurting him at this stage would only make him more determined and set in his path.

Slade could wait because he wasn't done with the boy.

 


End file.
